For a few moments, the only sounds within the room were the baby's cries, then Caroline sprang into action, reaching for her child.
"Hold on," Sophie said hastily. "Let me clean her up first."
"It's a girl?" Caroline asked breathlessly.
"It's a girl," Sophie confirmed, handing her over.
Caroline cradled her daughter against her chest, a sob bubbling up in her throat, drinking in the sight of her tiny fingers, the wisps of hair plastered against her head, the deep blue of her eyes even as they were tightly shut as she screamed. "Hi baby …"
"Caroline," Davina said, stepping closer to the bed. "Caroline, I think I can get through to the ancestors … if I use the magic in the room … if I borrow her magic …"
"Will it hurt her?" Caroline asked.
"No," Davina answered.
Caroline did not look up from her baby. "Will it help?"
"I hope so," Davina whispered.
Now Caroline looked up, meeting her eyes. "Then do it."
Davina closed her eyes, drew on the residual magic in the room and began to chant. Slowly, everyone around her faded away, until she was left with a deafening silence.
When she opened her eyes again, she was no longer in her own body.
Maybe her body had collapsed, maybe it was still standing in meditation, she did not know.
All she knew was that she was standing in the same patch of thick grey fog she had reached with every other attempt at meditation since her resurrection.
This time, however, something was different.
There was light, breaking through the mist, and as Davina walked towards it, the fog began to disappear.
"Davina Claire."
Davina gasped, spinning around to see a young woman a few years older than her. She recognised her, from photographs, from portraits, even from Kol's memories. "Mary-Alice."
Mary-Alice was frowning at her. "You're not dead. You're meditating?"
"In a manner of speaking," Davina said cautiously. "I guess you haven't seen a lot of us recently."
"Not at all," Mary-Alice said. "No one's died; no one's meditated … is no one practicing magic anymore?"
"They are," Davina said. "And people have died. Esther Mikaelson did something to cut you off from the coven."
Mary-Alice's eyes widened. "This is above me," she said grimly. "Come with me."
Davina followed her, filled with trepidation. The ancestors could be anything from their salvation to the lesser of two evils – or even to the greater of two evils, if she was really unlucky.
All she could do was hope for the best.
Caroline barely noticed as Davina sank to her knees, her entire attention taken up by the baby in her arms.
She was still crying, mouthing at her mother's chest instinctively, and Caroline shifted her shirt to let her try to nurse.
"That's probably not going to work," Sophie warned.
"I know," Caroline said. "Hopefully, it'll comfort her long enough for us to get a bottle."
Davina's eyes suddenly flew open and she stood abruptly.
"Did it work?" Sophie asked.
Davina ignored her, leaving the room as if in a trance.
"Davina?" Caroline called after her. "Sophie …"
"I'm going," Sophie said, darting out of the room and shutting the door behind her.
Davina strode the hallway to the staircase to the main courtyard, where the fight was still raging. Halfway down the stairs, she stopped and raised her hands.
With a blast of magic, everyone was knocked off their feet, and Esther was pinned against the wall.
Confused silence fell, but Esther's eyes were immediately drawn to Davina.
"Ah, Davina Claire," she greeted. "My fourth Harvest Girl. Come to join the party?"
"Davina isn't here right now," Davina said, her voice flat. Her voice had changed; it sounded like a hundred voices were speaking at once. "You have controlled this coven for too long, Esther Mikaelson. You have dishonoured the ancestors by chaining us, by claiming to speak for us. You have desecrated a sacred ancient ritual to further your own gains."
The witches were beginning to mutter among themselves.
"But the ancestors told us to do that," one of the witches said.
"No, we did not," the ancestors said through Davina. "Esther did, and made sure you could no longer access us. Those who have died since her interment have been trapped elsewhere and not reached us. We would not instruct you to slaughter your children, nor would we condone resurrection."
Klaus had not got where he was by being an idiot. He may have disliked the witches, but he was not going to argue with the ancestors. "Leave now," he told the witches, "and we will let you live."
The coven did not need to be told twice.
They fled, vanishing into the darkness of New Orleans, leaving Esther alone.
"Esther Mikaelson," the ancestors intoned, "you have forsaken your own ancestors, your magic, and your blood."
"My blood!" Esther shrieked. "My blood has forsaken me! This … This abomination …"
"… is of your own making," the ancestors finished. "Your reasoning remains a mystery, but the outcome is not unwelcome. You will be …"
Esther let out a furious scream, her magic sending out another shockwave through the room, before vanishing.
In the chaos that followed, of the Mikaelsons leading the charge after their mother, Davina's voice rose above the noise. "Klaus!"
Against his better instincts, Klaus doubled back to where Davina was still standing on the stairs, clinging to the handrail.
Her earlier rigidity had disappeared, as had the strange layers to her voice.
"Have they gone?" He asked.
"Well, they're not in me anymore," Davina said, her voice shaking. "You need to stay."
Klaus heaved a frustrated sigh. "Davina, Esther …"
"I know," Davina said. "But you need to stay. Caroline's …"
Her voice faltered. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she collapsed.
Klaus caught her before she could tumble down the stairs, swinging her up into his arms. "Okay then." He glanced over his shoulder to the door.
His siblings were out of sight, so there was no way of passing Davina off to Kol.
At the same time, Davina had implied that Caroline needed him, and his siblings were more than capable of dealing with their mother.
Klaus carried Davina upstairs and met Sophie on the landing. "What happened?"
"Davina managed to get through to the ancestors," Sophie answered. "After that, I couldn't tell you. She walked out in a trance, and you saw everything I did."
"And Caroline?" Klaus asked. "Is she alright?"
"She's fine," Sophie said with a smile.
"Has she gone?" Matt asked, emerging from the bedroom.
"She ran for it," Klaus answered. "Like the coward she is."
Matt nodded. "Josh has moved Aiden," he said. "Do you want me to take Davina?"
"Is Caroline alright?" Klaus repeated.
"She's fine," Sophie repeated.
"Then why are you so desperate for me to get to her?" Klaus asked.
"Nik, stop interrogating them," Caroline said in a hushed voice. "Just get in here. Sophie …"
"I'm going," Sophie said, heading for the stairs.
Matt held his arms out, and Klaus transferred Davina into them.
Caroline was sitting up in bed, looking tired, but beaming with happiness.
"Caroline, are you alright?" Klaus asked urgently.
"I'm fine," Caroline said, in the same hushed voice. "Come and say hello."
She watched with some amusement as he froze in place.
"What?"
Caroline bit back a laugh. "Come here."
Klaus approached her the way one might approach a wounded animal. "Did you …?"
"Baby wanted to come early," Caroline said with a smile, pulling back the blankets so he could see the baby nestled in her arms. "She's just fallen asleep, but she's hungry. Apparently magical pregnancy does not result in magical lactation."
As if on cue, Sophie slipped back into the room with a baby bottle. "Here you are."
"Thanks Sophie," Caroline said, taking the bottle. "Get some sleep, for God's sake." She turned back to her daughter, giving her a little nudge to rouse her.
When the baby opened her mouth to cry, Caroline slipped the bottle's nipple into her mouth and she immediately clamped down and began to feed.
"There we are," she cooed. "That's better."
"Okay, goodnight," Sophie said.
She didn't get a response, but then she wasn't expecting one.
Caroline shifted to one side, silently inviting Klaus to sit with her. He sank down beside her, his eyes fixed on their daughter.
"She's beautiful," he whispered. "She looks just like you."
Caroline smiled. "Maybe. But she's got a hint of the devil in her eyes. That's all you."
For a few minutes, they sat in silence, both gazing at their little girl.
When the bottle was empty, Caroline set it aside and automatically lifted her to rub her back. "I knew all those evenings babysitting would come in handy at some point."
Klaus smiled. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine," Caroline said wearily. "I was in a lot of pain. When she was born, there was a surge of magic in the room and all the pain went away. And Matt's hand healed up, so did Aiden's injuries."
"Yes, where did Aiden come into it?" Klaus asked.
"One of the witches got a little too close," Caroline explained. "Aiden tried to stop him, nearly got killed for his trouble."
"How did he get away?" Klaus asked.
"Josh ripped the witch's heart out," Caroline answered.
Klaus raised an eyebrow. "Good for Josh. I'll let you deal with the fallout."
"Given your tactics would probably be to buy him a beer and congratulate him," Caroline said dryly, "I would have to agree with you."
The baby let out a tiny little burp.
"So does she, clearly," Caroline said, easing her daughter back into her arms. "Do you want to hold her?"
Klaus looked startled, and more than a little apprehensive, but nodded, taking his daughter into his arms.
"Make sure you support her head," Caroline said.
Klaus smiled. "I have held a baby before, Caroline."
Caroline raised an eyebrow. "Since Henrik was born?"
"Well, no," Klaus admitted, "but it turns out it's rather like riding a bike."
Caroline giggled. "I can't picture you on a bicycle."
"Once upon a time, it was all the rage, sweetheart," Klaus said.
There was a soft knock at the door, and Davina stuck her head in. "Is everyone okay?"
"You should be in bed," Caroline said immediately.
"I know," Davina said. "And I'm going back to bed, believe me; I'm exhausted. I just wanted to reassure you – the ancestors aren't going to do anything to harm her."
Caroline breathed a sigh of relief, but Klaus didn't look convinced. "Why not?"
Davina smiled. "Witches don't like vampires on principle. But by now, vampires are part of nature's balance. Removing them all – the way your mother wants to – would create an unbalance that we could never recover from."
"Well, that explains why they're not helping Esther," Klaus said. "That doesn't explain why they're okay with our daughter."
"They think your daughter is a beacon of hope," Davina explained. "They think she will bridge the gaps between werewolves, vampires, witches and humans, and usher in a new era of peace."
"Do you believe them?" Klaus asked.
"I think it would be difficult for them to lie to me there," Davina said, frowning.
"Did they say why Esther did this?" Klaus prompted.
Davina pulled a face. "Not exactly. They said some things that might be connected, but …" she broke off, yawning widely.
Klaus sighed. "Tell us tomorrow, Davina. Get some sleep."
Davina nodded, stifling another yawn. "Okay. Good night."
"Good night, Davina; thank you." Klaus turned back to Caroline as the door closed again. "Do you believe them?"
Caroline's eyes were fixed on the baby in her boyfriend's arms. "Hope."
Klaus frowned. "Excuse me?"
"Hope," Caroline repeated. "Davina said she was a beacon of hope."
"Yes," Klaus agreed. "I heard that part."
"It's also a girl's name," Caroline said. "I like it."
Sufficiently distracted from thoughts of the ancestors, Klaus studied his daughter. "Hope Elizabeth Mikaelson."
"No," Caroline said, touching her daughter's face as the baby yawned and drifted off to sleep in her father's arms. "Hope Rebekah Elizabeth Mikaelson."